Giving Him Hope {A Black Butler Story}

Chapter 11: Counterproductive

Hello all! Told you I would be trying my hardest to finish this story! Only two more chapters to go. :)

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After what seemed like an eternity, the four men arrived in the home Gary had been sharing with Amaris. It was small, quiet, and seemingly unlived in. There were no decorations on the walls; there were no bright, welcoming colors. While the Phantomhive Manor was by no means colorful, it was homier than this house. The drabness made Ciel incredibly uncomfortable. It was almost unnaturally calm and silent. He had never been in a home that was like this.

Gary led the rest of the group down a hallway to a bedroom. Its door was wide open, much to Ciel's surprise. He didn't know too many people, or even demons, who wanted the door left open while they were feeling under the weather. An open door invited people in, brought in outside noises, and many more things that just made the recovery process much less tolerable. Then again, he wasn't sure what this Amaris was even sick with to begin with. As the room came into view, Ciel could see a frail looking woman lying in the bed. The young man tensed up at the sight; this woman looked just as ill as Hope did, and it was a grave reminder he was running out of time to get back to Hope to attempt to protect her against another reaper.

While Gary was relatively plain in appearance, Amaris was more hauntingly beautiful, even with being sick. For a moment Ciel wondered why someone like her would want to be with Gary, but he dismissed the thought. There was someone for everyone, and not everyone was shallow and only loved for appearances.

The thoughts were shaken from his mind when the female demon spoke up for the first time. "Who are these people, Gary?" she questioned, feebly pushing a strand of her dark hair from her pale face.

"Long story, Amaris," Gary answered half-heartedly. "I'm afraid I was only able to obtain two more souls for you, and I hope these are enough; I won't be able to collect anymore."

Even while this sickness was draining her, Amaris was still able to put two and two together. "These men must have caught you then," she mused, looking past her lover to look at the three men. She studied them intently for a moment, peering through their souls. That is, if any of them had one. "You three make an interesting hunting party. Why would two demons be working with a reaper to stop him from stealing souls? Is that not what we do?"

"Unfortunate circumstances, mostly," Sebastian spoke up for the group. "Normally a missing soul would be no cause for alarm if there was a demon actually forming contracts. Both no contracts and missing souls don't bode well for either of our kind."

Amaris sighed. "Fair enough." She turned to Gary. "The souls?"

Gary nodded, and then rummaged around in a small bag he had been carrying for a moment before removing a jar from the bag. From where he was standing, Ciel could only make out a swirling, silvery liquid like substance floating around the jar. Gary handed Amaris the jar and its strange contents. The demon looked at the jar's contents questionably for a moment before she opened it and seemingly drank them.

Nothing happened for a few moments, but it was soon apparent that she had just ingested the souls and they were slowly working their magic in repairing the demon's ailing body. Some glow had already returned to her skin, and Amaris was sitting straighter; she looked more like what Ciel assumed she did normally, but Gary would be the ultimate judge of that.

"How are you feeling now?" Gary asked, almost afraid of the answer.

Amaris shrugged, stretching her arms in the process. "Maybe not one hundred percent better, but I certainly feel more like myself. I think I should be able to handle shaking the rest of this illness. Thanks, love."

"You're welcome," Gary replied. He took a deep breath and turned to face the others. "I suppose now I have to go face William and the others, don't I?"

"I do believe that was the plan," Ciel spoke up. He looked to Grell. "I am going to entrust you to take him back to your headquarters. Sebastian and I have our own matters to attend to."

Grell frowned. "I suppose you're going to try to save that girl, aren't you?"

Ciel didn't say anything for a few moments as he debated how he wanted to answer the reaper. "I am going to do everything in my power to ensure she lives," he answered.

The redheaded man sighed. "You do know there is no way to prevent her death, right?" he reminded. "Unless the reaper determines her presence on this planet is incredibly beneficial to us all, she is going to be reaped. Sorry kid, but that's just how it works. You should know by now there are very few exceptions when it comes to life and death."

By now, this exchange had intrigued Amaris. "Who is this girl you're talking about?"

"This girl in question would be one Hope Whitlock, the girl my young master is courting," Sebastian explained, knowing very well Ciel was in deep thought trying to come up with a solution. "She is currently dying of influenza and pneumonia and is expected to pass in the very near future."

A frown appeared on Amaris' face. "Humans are so incredibly frail. Such trivial illnesses, and they die. Surely you should've seen this coming." She paused for a moment, realizing that may have been a bit harsh. "My condolences."

Ciel said nothing to this, very well knowing how fragile human life was. He had lost many loved ones, and needed no reminder of this fact. Hope was just the latest victim in his tragic life. The last eight years or so of his life had been nothing but tragedy after tragedy, death after death. It seemed as if no one was safe from it. All he could do now was pray that the solution he had in mind would indeed save Hope's life.

"I do have one solution that may save her life, but I am not entirely sure about it," Ciel admitted. "It's only a theory, so I can only hope I am right." He turned to Sebastian. "We should get going. Time is of the essence."

Sebastian nodded. "Yes, my lord." The butler looked to Grell. "I expect you can take care of business here?"

"Oh I can take care of business, Bassy," Grell responded with a wink.

"Okay, let's get out of here before he gets any more ideas," Ciel decided, turning on his heel and beginning to walk out of the room.

Sebastian followed closely behind Ciel, honestly glad to getting away from Grell and his shenanigans. Once they were out of the house and back onto the street, Sebastian decided to inquire exactly what Ciel's plan was in dealing with Hope and her impending reaping.

"Young master, what is your plan for Miss Whitlock?" he questioned. "There's not a whole lot to be done in terms of reversing the decision that has been made."

Ciel stopped in his tracks, turning to his butler. "You said I can make my own contracts now, correct?"

Sebastian blinked a few times. Ciel could tell he wasn't expecting that as an answer. "You mean to tell me you're going to convince the girl into Faustian contract with you in order to save her life? Seems to be a bit... counterproductive if you ask me," the butler retorted.

Ciel frowned, an irritated look upon his face as the two of them resumed walking. "It's the only option I have left, and I'm willing to give it a try if it means at least saving her life. Even if only temporarily," he stated. "I'm working out details in my head of what the contract would entail, but in the end the decision is ultimately up to Hope."

Lord Phantomhive could tell his butler was skeptical about the whole idea, but was glad Sebastian said nothing more on the subject the remainder of the way back to Hope's home. Ciel wasn't sure how this was going to work out, but he was prepared to try this last ditch effort if it meant Hope would live to see another day.

A Faustian contract saved his life; now he was hoping it would save Hope's.